We have found genealogies to be one of the biggest helps in working towards Bible "fluency" as we have started to call it. (This is different from "sprituality" of course, but we are told to sow generously!!)

Of course, as ancient documents go, genealogies are one of the things that give legitimacy to a work, because they anchor the document in history. So we have to un-brainwash our minds from thinking they are boring; genealogies actually help substantiate the reliability of the Bible! Duh!

We got an interesting article excerpt along those lines from our Berean Call email list.

The people of Niger have a long history and deep family roots. One way you can get their attention is to tell a story. Another way is to show a genealogy.

This was one way it became apparent that genealogies would be a way to share the Gospel. Tom Dudenhofer with Audio Scripture Ministries says, "I've got to admit, I've never even thought about the book of Genesis as being an evangelistic tool."

Here's what happened: an ASM missionary shared that he met with an individual whose father was a qur'anic scholar -- someone gave him an Arabic Bible. Because he could read, he began to investigate Scriptures, starting with the book of Genesis.

When he finished, he began to tell people around him that "this book [the Bible] is True" because of the better record of genealogies and the accuracy of recounting historic events.
Then, he took the next four years and read through the entire Bible. He came out of that process and said "This Bible is Truth" and began to follow Christ.

Dudenhofer had a "light bulb" moment. "They understand the importance of the genealogies. To them, it's very significant. The thing that seemed to catch their attention was the accuracy with which God's Word recorded those genealogies. In other words, they were there with purpose."

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"And thou shall love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deuteronomy 6:5-7